NHS bill for £1000

[ladle4455]

My dad, 80, came for a visit from overseas from overseas for three months. He is fit and healthy but its impossible to find health insurance at his age. Anyway, there was a health emergency and we went to A&E. Waited for 7 hours but after 15 minutes of diagnostic tests (x ray etc but no medicines) was told there was no problem. was hugely relieved. I thought there was no charge as it was an emergency but have now been sent a bill for £1000. Apparently the charge for overseas patients is 150% (there times the actual cost) and the test was done by another department not A&E. Any advise? I have to sell my car to be able to pay as I don't want dad to have a debt over him.

@Mylovelygreendress absolutely as my 84 year old FIL has renewed his annual pass this week-not that difficult to get but not cheap- it's a very silly move coming without it- if you can't afford it then I'm sorry but I don't think you should risk it at that age

I do think the availability of travel insurance varies according to the country you live in, and is not something that is as easily to obtain as it is on the uk. Most people here wouldn't dream of travelling overseas without insurance but it's almost unheard of in some countries. As the OP hasn't said where her father lives, i think it's more difficult to pass judgment on him not being insured.

I think it was probably the cost of travel insurance at his age that put him off getting it, it can be high for an elderly person, especially if they have preexisting conditions.

I’d contact the billing dept. and see whether you can sort out a payment plan.

To be fair 3 months of insurance would have run at almost that at 80 anyway, my mum cost 450 for 4 weeks in the US at 76.

I did think that A and E was free though, we used it this summer and asked for a bill and they told us it was free. You pay if you get admitted to hospital but maybe it is for those kinds of tests too?

Pay what you both can sensibly afford and work out a payment plan for your father.

My old Aunt did this; it was no hardship for her to repay. She died before paying it all off and the remainder was paid by her estate in the end.

I know it's not what the OP was asking but thinking about it, if the A&E consultation is free and the charge was just for an X-ray, it seems very high? I had to lay for a private MRI scan and report on my back last year because the waiting list was so long, which cost me £300. I also pay for an annual mammogram which costs me just under £300. Both of these were done at London hospitals.

You can use your GHIC card in the EU. There is a reciprocal agreement.

What’s his country of residence?

Don't be daft. If this was the case you would be paying for many millions of people coming to the UK for free healthcare. I used to work as an auditor in the closest hospital to Gatwick airport and health tourism was a massive problem for them. There was a constant stream of very ill people flying in knowing that they would get treatment that they couldn't afford in their own country, as they knew that ethically the doctors would not refuse to treat them. They often ran up massive bills that they were unable/unwilling to pay, and this expense would end up coming out of the hospital budget as there was no way to pursue the bill once they left the country again. So no, you can't just provide treatment for everyone who rocks up to hospital, the NHS would go bankrupt even quicker than it is already.

Try Staysure @namestevalian

Maybe OP was hoping for a handout from this thread.

How is this relevant

If you travel abroad you have travel insurance

The NHS is under funded as it is and I don't agree with Health tourists

Not that OPs df was this

there was no way to pursue the bill once they left the country again

As a PP noted, the border force do get told and a note added to your passport record, so you won’t be allowed access to the uk again without paying off the bill. For many health tourists they may not feel this matters, but if you are wanting to visit family in the uk again…

There was a constant stream of very ill people flying in knowing that they would get treatment that they couldn't afford in their own country

They should be put on the first flight home again, and if they are too ill for that then the airline should guarantee payment.

I really don't think the OP will be back

I'm not a Tory or right wing and I don't agree with health tourism at all. In fact I think anyone coming in from outside the EU (where we do at least still have a little bit of a reciprocal arrangement) should have to show travel insurance on entry.

I'm not either. I just wouldn't have the gall to travel to another country on holiday with no insurance and expect them to treat me for free if I got sick or had an accident.

daily mail link

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4176406/Meet-Nigerian-cost-500-000-IVF-triplets.html

Interesting that 10000+ Daily Mail readers liked the comment below the article that 'this should not have been allowed to happen.' Presumably a fair number of them would have withheld treatment and been happy to see the mother and babies die.
After all, she's black, Nigerian and a 'benefits cheat'- the trinity of all that is evil.
Much better to look at the overall picture that most overseas visitors pay, and the comparative few that don't, don't really have much of an effect when compared to the braindrain that the NHS places on much poorer countries' healthcare systems eg Ghana, Philippines etc who lose their vital nurses, doctors and other healthcare staff to the UK.
My partner's department has only one white British staff member- all other staff members come from the Global South or are first generation Commonwealth migrants.

The staggered payment option was something I wasn’t aware of and shall look into this. Thanks!

a lot of comments about insurance -great! Dad is still in the uk and I want to get insurance for the remainder of his stay. I still can’t find an insurer. Can anyone suggest a company? Dad is over 80 and is a resident of a low income country. Insurance penetration is very low there and there are absolutely no providers for those over 65. It will have to be some international insurer. Any leads welcome. All the companies I checked are meant for citizens in the wealthier part of the world.

As it happens he is travelling to the USA afterwards to be with his sister who has cancer. So the NHS bill is a blessing in a way as it alerted him to he importance of insurance. Again, any names of health insurance providers for the US leg of the trip very welcome!

Ooh if the NHS and government still funded training for people living here already to become nurses then perhaps we wouldn't need all the staff from overseas plus all the extra people who now reside in the UK

She had a real cheek end of

Didn’t Diane Abbott complain when an NHS trust recruited Finnish nurses? Complaining that "blonde, blue-eyed Finnish girls" were unsuitable as nurses because they had "never met a black person before"